Plague of Winter
by The Sterling Dragon
Summary: Lying is something that Norway has seemed to have down to a science. However, one of his lies go too far and he's left to deal with the consequences of his actions. With the coming of winter lies become revealed in the form of a humiliating secret that was never meant to come to light.


So here's another Hetalia Fanfic that is SUPPOSED to be a one-shot, but we all know how well that's turned out in the past XD

As always I don't own Hetalia

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The lacy spider web of shadow crisscrossed over a well-worn path untainted crust of snow and ice, skeletons of trees stripped of their foliage that led to a lake. The lake itself, long since frozen solid as autumn abruptly drew to a close. An adolescent practiced magic in what was once a lush meadow looking out upon said lake, now a silent deserted plain of snow. Silence rang out through the air as the teen manipulated his surroundings. The ice that lay before him slowly started melting as he concentrated, forcing a mini thaw to create a circle only about a meter in diameter of dormant grass as he brought warmth up from the earth. From this he made the wavering illusion of spring, the grass flourished and a few of the flowering grasses started blooming. It was an oasis of life shadowed by a desert of death. His mentor -a middle-aged woman named Saga- watched on from the side, not interfering so she didn't interrupt his concentration and spoil the illusion that the teen was desperately trying to master. But, she couldn't delay weather. Starving storm clouds charged, bearing down upon her and her apprentice.

"Norway." Saga called from her position off to the side. Norway's concentration broke, the illusion of spring that he was fixated on warped back into dead grass. His mentor nodded in the direction of the quickly advancing storm clouds, heralding a blizzard. The Norwegian adolescent's dark eyes traveled to the sky and he abandoned his spot to join his mentor on the walk back home. The wind was already starting to pick up, blowing any and all lose snow around, making the air hazy with frozen water.

* * *

_Hetalia_

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The two were almost back to the middle-aged woman's house where her apprentice was staying after a rather brutal fight the Norwegian had with his father. Cold wind sliced through their path turning the realm of humans seemingly into Hel's icy realm of death. One could almost expect the half maiden, half corpse queen to weave her way through the spokes of the birch trees that were nearly camouflaged in the building blizzard. They had almost reached Saga's home when Norway noticed that the world suddenly started to sway, it didn't help that the wind had slowed down making the snow fall in a dizzying spiral. He stumbled and leaned against a pine tree, his actions didn't go unnoticed. His mentor stopped, her marine gaze narrowed in suspicion. It wouldn't be the first time that the Norwegian had lied, or tried to lie to her about something like his heath.

Truthfully Norway was too achy to put up much of a fight so he allowed Saga to guide him into her home and to a pile of furs on a bench by the fire. The adolescent refused to meet her gaze out of shame. "How do you feel Lukas?" The brunette's gaze burned through her apprentice. She wasn't answered right away.

"I feel fine, I just over did it with the magic is all." Norway brushed off the incident that had happened earlier.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

Saga nodded curtly, keeping her unwavering gaze trained on the country for any sign of a lie; after all she did have her suspicions especially seeing as she had been lied to before. "Fine then, get some rest." And with that she left the personification to doze by the fire.

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_Hetalia_

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Norway slept lightly by the fire, drifting in and out of consciousness. He had lied to his mentor and he did feel guilt over it. The nation hadn't overexerted himself through the use of magic. He was in his current condition because of a festering wound on his arm from when he had fallen out of a tree and gotten cut on a jagged branch. He had worried about what his mentor and his father would have thought. His throat tightened. He and his father had been fighting again and more often than not he was on his father's bad side. Then again where the nation was concerned his father didn't have another side to him. Norway shifted, wincing as he put pressure on the throbbing cut on his arm. Luckily his mentor wasn't near him.

He had heard her muttering under her breath about possibly being snowed in. He had hoped that wasn't the case. It was easier to hide his injuries around his brothers and father. Actually Denmark and his father, Scandia, bought into just about anything. Sweden on the other hand was a little bit tougher to convince. And the teen knew that his mentor already had her suspicions about his health. This was one of those times when the roles of mentor and apprentice blended with the roles of mother and son.

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_Hetalia_

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Luckily the two hadn't been snowed in. However, the weather was too fierce to venture out in and forced the young country to stay with his mentor. He didn't have any qualms against that but it was getting harder and harder for him to hide his infected wound from her. Saga eventually found out when she saw Norway attempting- in vain- to use magic to heal himself. It would have been an understatement to say that she was a little upset. In fact, the country almost wished that he wasn't with his mentor for once. He could feel the disappointment radiating off of her in waves as she examined his injury. "How did you get this?" She asked sharply her grip a little too tight around his wrist and a little too close to the infected wound on his arm.

Norway grappled for something to say, giving up when he realized that he'd be digging a deeper hole for himself. "I fell out of a tree…" Came the embarrassed answer.

"You fell out of a tree?" Saga replied, her tone flat.

Norway fidgeted, "Yeah."

"What were you doing in a tree?"

"I don't know…"

"Then why did you climb it in the first place?"

Norway opened his mouth to respond only to be unable to come up with a viable answer. He had forgotten the series of events that had led him to his unfortunate plunge from the tree. He didn't notice his mentor get up and get a clean blade out of a pot of boiling water… Wait, how did she know he had an infected wound? Had he told her? He didn't remember… Norway snapped out of his thoughts when Saga returned with the knife and clean bandages, and proceeded to re-open his wound to let the blood. Norway just stared at the red liquid as it flowed freely along with fluids that had come from his wound. The skin around the cut was inflamed and red looking. Saga then washed the wound and took a needle and thread that appeared seemingly out of nowhere and stitched the injury closed. The blond nation gagged as the needle pierced his skin, the thread following it and pulling at his flesh. Norway leaned against his mentor's shoulder as his head swam, closing his eyes to fight the dizziness. Saga noticed his distress and finished up the stitching and wrapped his arm. "You learned your lesson?" Her question was followed by a weak nod. The woman bit back concern from her voice as she looked down at her apprentice, "Just take it easy for a few days, all right?"

"Hn…" Came the dazed response. Norway vaguely noticed his mentor didn't get up immediately. Instead she tenderly ran her fingers through his hair, pausing to rest her hand against his forehead before helping him lie down. But it was probably just his imagination; after all she was just his mentor and not his mother.

* * *

_Hetalia_

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Norway spent the better part of the next three days in a fevered haze. Everything around him blurred together and he couldn't remember details. His arm did start to feel better. And, by the end of the third day, the nation blearily let his world focus once more on the coherent reality that he had missed out on while he was fighting the infection. The storm had let up and Saga agreed to let him go home after he had gotten a good nights' rest. Norway didn't know how that was possible seeing as he had been resting for three days straight. He wasn't looking forward to explaining to his father the reason behind the bandages. The nation sighed and closed his eyes.

Norway realized that he had dozed off when his mentor shook him awake. The blond pulled himself to his feet, shivering at the thought of having to go outside. Any sane person would want to stay in a nice, warm, house surrounded by furs on a day like this. Sadly the Norwegian couldn't catch a break so, deciding that he'd just get used to the cold, the nation bundled up and made his way back home.

The snow crunched under foot and the sky held no sign that there was ever a snowstorm. The nation made his way across the snow encased field that separated his home from his mentor's. Saga walked beside him, not entirely trusting her charge to make it safely to his home seeing as he was still a little under the weather. The nation's father waited for him at the door. Scandia surveyed Norway as he attempted to shoulder past him. The Norwegian wasn't making much progress in that endeavor. "What happened?" It was more of a demand than a question and Norway was determined not to answer. Luckily the nation didn't have to as Denmark finally noticed Norway. The older personification then proceeded to nearly crush his younger brother with a hug.

"Mathias, why don't you take your brother inside, he's been sick these past few days." Saga told the personification. It wasn't a suggestion. Denmark was able to catch onto what the brunette woman was trying to say and guided his little brother into the house. Saga then turned her gaze back to Scandia "Apparently he fell out of a tree."

"What?"

"You heard what I said."

"How?"

Saga narrowed her eyes. "Just deal with your son. He's fighting off an infection that came from a cut when he fell so he's going to be under the weather." She then turned on her heel and left the ancient standing alone in the cold. Scandia stood there for a few more seconds wondering what had just happened until he finally turned and re-entered his house. Of the three of his sons it always seemed to be his youngest that got himself into the most trouble. The much younger personification really could never catch a break, it seemed like he inherited his father's bad luck.

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And that's it for this wonderful one shot. This is totally not going to be a multi chapter fic.


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